Human Body Unit - Week 17 - Adrenalin

Week 17: We made a chain reaction to show how adrenalin works.

When fight or flight are our options adrenalin is released inside our bodies which sets a chain of events in motion. The heart starts pounding, the brain goes on high alert, nerves are activated, airways widen, heart rate increases, digestive system is shut down, the increased oxygen and blood strengthens muscles, eyes widen, and glucose is released in the liver. This week we read about adrenalin in David Macaulay's The Way We Work.

Since adrenalin sets off a chain reaction inside the body, we built a chain reaction sequence we could see. The goal was to have one action trigger at least five other actions.

First I asked the kids to gather several items that could move. On a piece of paper we scattered the names of everything that was gathered with a circle around it. Next, we voted on the trigger device. In our case this was the remote control car. Then arrows were drawn between the circles to show which devices would trigger other devices. Finally, each circle was assigned to a child which was responsible for that portion of the design. The interfaces were not assigned so the kids needed to design them together.

Then I left the kids on their own to work together, design the reactions and set everything up. Check out the short video at the end of the post to see their reaction.

This post is linked to: 
Relentlessly Fun
Tried it Tuesday
Hip Homeschool Hop

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